COM 1062.011 2006-2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Tony Gordon Page 2 of 2 disincentive for reduction, reuse, and recycling. Energy recovery is a final step that removes the resource, MSW, from any possibility of reuse or recycling. Technology is changing at a phenomenal pace. Can the County afford to lock itself into 20 years of stasis? Changes in the technology may make our green waste a prime feedstock for production of ethanol. Which has a greater value, electricity or fuel? Energy efficiency and alternative sources can reduce or stabilize electrical demand, but liquid fuel will be hard to replace as the fuel of transport for most of our population for the foreseeable future. This is but one example. We should not foreclose the future. Otherissues- Capital Cost- The project is reportedly to cost $125.5 million. This is the current contract price before the final adjustments are made. But, those are not the County's real costs, because they ignore debt service.At a reported cost of $8.6 million per year on a 25 year bond, the County will pay $215,000,000 once the interest costs of the bond are included. Operating Cost- Operating costs are reported as $7.1 million to Wheelabrator as its operating fee (covering salaries, administration, G&A, overhead and profit), $850,000 for trucking ash, $1.8 million for supplies and pass-through expenses. It is reported (WHT 6 March 08) that Mr. Takaba estimated about $6.9 million in "avoided cost revenues" from the use of electricity generated by the plant in its operations would offset some of the operating costs. What percentage of the power produced will be needed to operate the plant? Avoided cost is not revenue. There would be no expense if there was no plant to operate, and only if the electricity was not used at the plant would there be income. If the reference is to income from sales of power that can be applied to costs and reduce the net expense, it is an offset, otherwise it is not. Ash- Trucking, but not disposal, of ash is budgeted at $850,000. It may or may not be able to be used as daily cover at Puuanahulu- that would be at the discretion of the federal EPA and the State Health Department. Ash is normally treated as hazardous waste due to heavy metal, dioxin and furan concentrations and is disposed of in lined landfills with leachate collection and treatment. Wheelabrator's Concord, New Hampshire facility can handle 210,000 tons of MSW per year (two and a half times the size of the proposed Hilo plant) and is left with an ash residue amounting to 65,000 tons, or 1/3 of the weight of the incoming waste and about 15% of the original volume. The costs of ash handling and disposal are steep. If the ratios hold true, that is 25,000 tons of ash to dispose of at a lined landfill. If that ash is landfilled on the east side of the island, the costs of treating the leachate must be added in. 3/10/2008